LOC10 Populist and Far-Right Politics in Europe and Beyond

Populism has often been studied as a national phenomenon. However, research increasingly highlights its international dimensions. Populist actors collaborate across borders, operate in supranational institutions, and even present their movements as deliberate attempts to go beyond the framework of the traditional nation-state. This track explores how populism manifests and operates in the European, international and transnational realm. 

Attention shall be provided to:
- the role of illiberal actors in the diffusion of ideas across borders, examining how illiberal actors adopt ideas from abroad, build common discursive and ideational frames, create organizational and epistemic infrastructures, and translate transnational cooperation into domestic and international influence;
- the transnational dynamics of far-right contentious politics and the international circulation of far-right ideas, strategies, and organizational networks, exploring how far-right actors (including parties and movements) mobilize across borders through digital platforms, activist networks, and shared narratives centred on nationalism, anti-globalism, and antifeminism; 
- the connection between populism and Euroscepticism. Populism and Euroscepticism are among the most salient political phenomena of our time. However, their connection remains poorly understood, with limited research investigating how the two concepts are related and how they interact in practice;
- the growing electoral success of far-right politics, which raises questions about its impact on multilateral security frameworks, including the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), NATO, and informal and ad hoc cooperation formats;
- the impact of the far right on EU decision-making. Over the past decade, far-right actors have established a firm presence in European Union politics. Far-right EU parliamentary groups have extended the reach of their influence, as mainstream actors increasingly accommodate rather than contest far-right discourse and policy preferences. Together, these dynamics blur the boundaries between mainstream and far-right actors in European parliamentary competition.